When their production stopped in 1983, Hagstrom guitars became instant collectors items. For decades they maintained their market value so well that Hagstrom resumed production in 1996 to rave reviews. The Swede electric guitar is one of their most cherished models, reborn with a mahogany body, carved mahogany top, set mahogany neck, bound Resinator fretboard, and 2 Hagstrom Custom '58 humbuckers for the classic tone that made Hagstrom famous.

I normally don't write reviews, but I will on this One! I Got the Hagstrom Swede--Gold Top.First,I've owned Fenders,Gibson SG's,Gibson Studio Les Paul's, plus the cheaper versions of...Read complete review

I normally don't write reviews, but I will on this One! I Got the Hagstrom Swede--Gold Top.First,I've owned Fenders,Gibson SG's,Gibson Studio Les Paul's, plus the cheaper versions of both. Stuck on USA made guitars.I sold my Gibson Studio Les Paul and bought an Gibson Standard SG. Love the SG but found myself missing that Les Paul sound. Can't afford Gibsons prices on their Les Pauls. Thought about the Epiphone, but didn't want to buy a guitar and have to install pickups right off the bat to be happy.Then, by chance I found the Hagstrom line. I had never heard of them so I did some research. After research, I decided to try them out. Right out of the box the guitar was perfect. I adjusted the action to my taste and was good to go. The finish is Beautiful and Flawless. This guitar is HEAVY like the Les Paul with warm tones(compared to my SG!).Pickups sound great clean or with distoration!! I honestly think this guitar sounds as good or better than the Les paul Studio I use to own. This guitar is solid as a rock. I still can't believe I got this guitar for half the price of a Studio with better sound. Go to You Tube. Their are several good review clips on this guitar that shows the quality of a Hagstrom. The best thing is the Swede isn't a Les Paul copy..It's a single cut guitar in a class of its own. If you are looking for a single cut guitar that dont need upgrading..Plays like a dream and is half the price of Gibson's cheapest Les Paul..This is your guitar!! Thanks Hagstrom!!

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Most Liked Negative Review

not a Gibson LP but its own animal

The Swede is definitely a cool guitar. The binding and inlay on the neck are smoking hot. The H-fram truss rod looks like a great innovation and should hold up nicely. It looks...Read complete review

The Swede is definitely a cool guitar. The binding and inlay on the neck are smoking hot. The H-fram truss rod looks like a great innovation and should hold up nicely. It looks great and has great warmth to it. Unfortunately all the comments about the spotty electronics in these models are true. The pots on my model were noisy and the pickup selector switch sometimes did not function properly in the middle position. Like others have mentioned, the tone filter switch has no useful purpose. The stock pickups were very dark and muddy. Despite this, it is a great feeling and playing guitar. The setup and neck feel made playing more intuitive and faster. It has great sustain and with the right electronics it could be very expressive. I swapped out the pots and the pickups (ghs mean 90s) and now this is my go to guitar for fiddling around and working on songs. Many compare this to a Gibson LP but in my opinion those that do this probably haven't played a Gibson LP. While this is a good playing guitar, it is overpriced for what you get and not in the same league as a Les Paul. If you want a LP, save your money. If you want a sturdy good looking Swede, be warned that you may have to drop a little extra change to upgrade the electronics.

I have lots of guitars and have played music for decades. I had not thought about a Hagstrom guitar since I was a kid. I bumped into the Hagstrom name again and saw the Swede line and I read everyone's reviews. I used to have a Gold Top Gibson Les Paul and loved it but the prices of a Gibson today are the better part of ridiculous in my opinion. I decided to give a Gold Top Hagstrom a try. No one carried one in a store so it was a shot in the dark...a good shot it turns out. It is a lovely guitar and certainly does make it fun to play. Intonation is impeccable. The neck is consistent and true all the way up...the reach to the higher frets is like a Les Paul...the tone is round and full...not very edgy,biting or thin. The sustain is exceptional though this guitar is lighter than a LP. I am very happy with this guitar. It holds big, even complicated chords...even with effects...without breaking up the harmonics. It has a sweet clean jazz side as well...though it is commanding when you pour on the amplification and/or effects. This is a keeper and I bet the Cherry is beautiful as well. Got the Hag case for it and it is a done deal...can't beat the bang for buck.

The Swede is definitely a cool guitar. The binding and inlay on the neck are smoking hot. The H-fram truss rod looks like a great innovation and should hold up nicely. It looks great and has great warmth to it. Unfortunately all the comments about the spotty electronics in these models are true. The pots on my model were noisy and the pickup selector switch sometimes did not function properly in the middle position. Like others have mentioned, the tone filter switch has no useful purpose. The stock pickups were very dark and muddy. Despite this, it is a great feeling and playing guitar. The setup and neck feel made playing more intuitive and faster. It has great sustain and with the right electronics it could be very expressive. I swapped out the pots and the pickups (ghs mean 90s) and now this is my go to guitar for fiddling around and working on songs. Many compare this to a Gibson LP but in my opinion those that do this probably haven't played a Gibson LP. While this is a good playing guitar, it is overpriced for what you get and not in the same league as a Les Paul. If you want a LP, save your money. If you want a sturdy good looking Swede, be warned that you may have to drop a little extra change to upgrade the electronics.

For the money, a well built guitar. My only complaint was the lack of attention paid to the selector switches. In my opinion, They should both be set vertical to avoid confusion during pickup and tone changing. When receiving this product, one switch was about 30 degrees sideways and the other about 20 degrees off from vertical. I had to readjust both. This all may sound petty, but a quality guitar should never have left the factory like this.

I played one of the Wild Cherry models at a music store in Cadillac MI. I saw it hanging on the wall, and immediately I exclaimed: "The Swede!". I had read about Hagstrom online after seeing Pat Smear of the Foo Fighters and The Germs use one. I had only heard positive things about them and I love the Foo Fighters, so I had to try it. The finish was fabulous, the tuning keys are unique, and it's very comfortable to hold. Many people say it's heavy, but I didn't really notice any significant change in weight when compared to other guitars. One of ther first things I noticed was it's extreme lack of fret buzz. When I read other reviews people often tend to say, "Oh yeah! this thing roolz! No fret buzz!". Then when I try it, I'm disappointed. Not with the Hagstrom though, it didn't buzz on me once. The fretboard was very smooth and looks a lot like Ebony, but without any of the baggage or delicate care that Ebony fretboards require. The pickups did sound kind of dark, but if I were to get one, it wouldn't be a problem because I use a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal, which is VERY trebly and could easily counter that excessive bass. The darkness is not necessarily a bad thing though, especially if you're a rhythm player or you just like that warm sound anyway.

I no longer buy guitars but I still roam music stores for my pleasure and to find good guitars for my friends. Saturday we went to a small local music store that displayed 7 Hagstrm, five of them Swede or Super Swede. We tried them all unplugged cause the acoustic sound of any guitar tells it all. When I rested the first one on my lap, I reached for my tuner then I realized I barely felt the guitar on my legs and belly. Outstanding ergonomics of the guitar body. After fretting a few chords, I was thinking the same about the neck's ergonomics. All were very well intonated and set up, with low action, but I did not check all over the fretboard if there was fret buzz. However I did not hear any while playing some chords and scales.One in the lot (a Goldtop) had a fine angelic, clear and loud tone (without amp, strictly wood tone), and we left for another store to compare other instruments. Today I went back to the small store to listen to the Goldtop again, and this visit confirmed the first impression, only I noticed the guitar's body projected a rather loud and warm vibe. It's 519? but it outclasses a 656? Gibson Les Paul we tried in the other store. Other Gibson's are far more expensive, too much for my friend's wife.I was a little weary of the synthetic wood used in the fretboard, but it does not sound cold or lacking in harmonics. All this with corroded strings of unknown brand, that were too thin, to boot. If your music store stocks a half-dozen Swede's, you can surely find a great one. Pickups are great from what I heard on YouTube with the headphones in about fifteen videos.

If you're even considering Epiphone Les Paul, or hell even a lower level Gibson Les Paul, you need to play this thing. Played one at a local music store and was blown away at the quality, and sound. At any price this guitar is killer, but it's low price just about puts it ahead of any Epiphone Les Paul and easily on par with most Gibson Les Pauls. God, the sound of this guitar through a tube amp is monstrous, from sparking rich clean to dirty throaty rock and punk. Great fast neck, flawless finish. Now I know how Millencolin gets it's huge Les Paul sound; NOT on a Les Paul(They play Swedes)! My next guitar as soon as I can get some money scraped together!

I normally don't write reviews, but I will on this One! I Got the Hagstrom Swede--Gold Top.First,I've owned Fenders,Gibson SG's,Gibson Studio Les Paul's, plus the cheaper versions of both. Stuck on USA made guitars.I sold my Gibson Studio Les Paul and bought an Gibson Standard SG. Love the SG but found myself missing that Les Paul sound. Can't afford Gibsons prices on their Les Pauls. Thought about the Epiphone, but didn't want to buy a guitar and have to install pickups right off the bat to be happy.Then, by chance I found the Hagstrom line. I had never heard of them so I did some research. After research, I decided to try them out. Right out of the box the guitar was perfect. I adjusted the action to my taste and was good to go. The finish is Beautiful and Flawless. This guitar is HEAVY like the Les Paul with warm tones(compared to my SG!).Pickups sound great clean or with distoration!! I honestly think this guitar sounds as good or better than the Les paul Studio I use to own. This guitar is solid as a rock. I still can't believe I got this guitar for half the price of a Studio with better sound. Go to You Tube. Their are several good review clips on this guitar that shows the quality of a Hagstrom. The best thing is the Swede isn't a Les Paul copy..It's a single cut guitar in a class of its own. If you are looking for a single cut guitar that dont need upgrading..Plays like a dream and is half the price of Gibson's cheapest Les Paul..This is your guitar!! Thanks Hagstrom!!

I have the satin(dull)white,with the powder black hardware.Cons - few imperfections in the finish here and there, neck binding has a "lip", some of the frets are sharp, the tele style knobs are loose (one was actually rolling around in the box when it arrived). It's also pretty heavy, if that matters to you. Pros - quality hardware/tuners, stays in tune well, the resinator fingerboard is smooth and pleasant playing. I am very impressed with the pickups. Even straight into the amp, no frills, sounds great. The extra tone filter switch doesn't serve any real function for me.

This is truley an amazing guitar , I bought this not knowing really anything but reveiws and history and WOW I am so glad I did , I never even heard the name before a few months ago and I dont understand why. Its hard to find a good quality guitar that has great tone and playability without financing methods [for me anyway]. I got a B stock that I cant find a flaw on. I can get any sound I want with the right effects and tweaks out of this beast , weighing in @ a nice 13 pounds it is a tone monster and sounds better than any guitar I have ever owned through my peavey classic 30. If your looking for a very well built axe that can do just about anything and dont want to spend thousands here she is.

I dint know about what one person is saying about stickers The one I got has pearl block inlays,and the sound,,,, I only thought Gibson guitars could only produce that sound ,but I was wrong.Hagstrom is a very nice guitar no problem with it at all .I played music for closely 32 years and if I mite say this guitar is one of the nices guitars for the money,Now there is other places that have it cheeper,and musicians friend will match price ,They did me Good ,I matter in fact got a spare swede now I have 2 .